Daniel James Brown’s masterly Facing the Mountain...gave me moments of chicken skin. With its gripping battle scenes and finely etched characters, I can’t remember the last time a book jolted my central nervous system in quite this way.

Brown combines history with humanity in a tense, tender and well-researched study of the lives disrupted and disregarded by misperceptions and misinformation.

... excellent.

Brown tackles this important story with the same impressive narrative talent and research that made his 2013 book, The Boys in the Boat, an enduring bestseller.

This is [Brown's] first stab at military history and for the most part he makes a decent fist of it. He concentrates on the experiences of four young Nisei: three who fought in the 442nd and one who refused to accept relocation. This allows him to personalise and juxtapose both sides of this extraordinary story: the appalling wartime treatment of Japanese-Americans; and the heroism in combat of thousands of young Nisei as they strove to prove they were as patriotic and selfless as their fellow countrymen. The dreadful conditions experienced by 110,000 Japanese-Americans in the hastily-built 'assembly centers' in Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona are graphically portrayed.

Combining social and military history, Brown’s latest book gives readers a heartbreaking picture of all that Japanese Americans sacrificed for their country during World War II..

... deep and richly detailed.

Drawing from extensive firsthand accounts, Brown interweaves the stories of dozens of Japanese American soldiers with the experiences of their interned families back in the U.S., and tracks legal battles waged by Nisei who refused to sign loyalty oaths or register for the draft because they believed their civil rights had been violated. The result is an illuminating and spirited portrait of courage under fire..

... deft.